So, what do I need to know? I am origionally from a small town in the south of Texas and I’ve been in Dallas for the last 6 years.
I’ve never been to the midwest. I’m familiar with the eastern seaboard, but not the midwest.
I know it’s cold. Real cold. Someone said -55F ?!?
What else? Any dopers close to there? Is Toronto a real city? Real hilly? Friggin’ mountainous? ( I ask because I like to mountain bike)
Thanks!
–==Mike==–
You’re in Dallas? Prices will probably be higher, not to a great extent but noticeably so anyway.
It’s flat, although not as flat as where I live (about an hour away). Mountain biking will not be an option, although by driving an hour or two north into Michigan or a few hours east over by Akron/Youngstown you can find hills.
Cold? Well, not -55F. Highs in the winter are somewhere usually between 10-30F, but the wind chill does make it feel considerably colder at times. Every time there’s a suggestion of a winter storm, expect to find the bread, milk, etc picked clean from the grocery stores. No one in the area has yet recovered mentally from the Blizzard of '78.
In the summer, the humidity will rival that of Texas but the heat isn’t as bad. You probably won’t experience as many severe thunderstorms or tornadoes and the ones that do happen are usually not as strong as those in Texas.
BG is probably one of the more liberal places in the NW Ohio area because of the university. You’ll find more diversity there and in nearby Toledo than you will anywhere else in the area. Be prepared for small towns, farm wagons that really do cause traffic jams, and people who know how to polka (and visit the Hamler Summerfest every year to show off their skills.)
Go to Cedar Point.
I’m not sure how/why Toronto got mentioned in your OP, but it’s a fair drive away. I’ve never made the trip and couldn’t begin to guess how long it takes.
Oh, and welcome!
Gah, I meant Toledo, OH of course. Someone told me it was the closest city in OH, though by looking at a map it seems that Ann Arbor is actually closer.
I’m making the move to go to that college for graduate school, and I’m pretty stoked. I don’t mind the flatness too much since I’m a natural flat-lander myself. I like to commute by bike, so flatness is ok in the main. I do like to carreen down a hill every once in a while 
Thanks!
Windchill -45 degrees, baybee 
Some of the other Dopers in the area should be able to tell you how far it is to Ann Arbor (on the rare occasions I go up that way, I’m not coming from the BG/Toledo area), but Toledo is definitely closer.
I think jarbaby did her undergrad there. Let’s hope she’ll be along. There is a nice contingent of Toledo and Michigan Dopers, if I do say so myself.
Normal winter highs for January in that part of Ohio will be near freezing and lows in the mid-teens. The all-time low is probably in the range of -20 to -25.
Your odds of seeing weeks of 100+ weather will decline to zilch.
I graduated from BG in 1999, and am living in Toledo now (where I grew up). It’s okay around here—not as cold as you’ve been warned thankfully, but it’s so flat that the wind can really bite when it does get cold.
Toledo is 1/2 hour north of BG. Ann Arbor is another hour north of Toledo, so Toledo is definitely closer. Mmmmm… BG has a great little music store called MadHatter that will have nearly every obscure or odd album you could hope to find. There’s a set of RR tracks that cut the town in half. The university is on the west side, so if you live on the east be prepared to schedule your comings and goings around when you’ll be able to get through. There’s a ton of college kids, obviously–but the locals are pretty friendly for the most part. There’s a great local music scene and a TON of bars. No mountains though, sorry (Haahahaaahaa–you’ll realize why that’s so funny when you get up here and see how fricken flat it is).
So when’s the move?
Hello and welcome to Ohio!!! I live about 25 minutes away from BG and am attending BGSU for my Master’s degree. I lived in Florida years ago (Originally from here) and I think Ohio is better, except for the winters, of course.
Summer goes from May to September, starting out in the 60s-70s during the day and 40s-50s at night and maturing to sometimes scorching hot weather by June or July. Cooldown occurs again about early September. Spring and fall are sudden and brief, with winter usually encompassing November through March. (I said they were brief!!) Snow usually does not come until December, but it can get wicked cold and nasty. Be prepared for days in which it is impossible to drive. This year our public school was closed for four days in a row in January, with a two-hour delay on Friday. At the time, I worked in Toledo, and the days that I did attempt to go, it took me over two hours to get there. Wintetime also features intense cold at times. I almost cry the day it gets above freezing in the daytime each year. Oh, and the weather provides lots of drama - floods followed by droughts in the summer, with the ever-present tornado threat; lots of high winds and temperature fluctuations in spring and fall, and the abovementioned crazy storms in winter. Right now, for example, we are experiencing minor flooding from day after day of intermittent heavy rain. Last year there was a drought so bad that several of our trees died.
Oh, and the people are friendly!
No mountains at all. It’s definitely really flat. This area of Ohio is called the Great Black Swamp region because it used to be a huge swamp that Euro-immigrants drained for farming. There are still lots of areas of wetlands. If you’re into mountain biking, prepare for trails that aren’t strenuous hill-wise, but there are parks that have a lot of gorgeous scenery. If you want hills, go to southern Ohio for the beauty of John Bryan State Park, Hocking Hills, or Old Man’s Cave. (But be careful! Lots of cliffs.) In the Toledo area, there is a Metro Park system where you can find lots of opportunities to bike/hike.
Where are all the Toledo area Dopers, anyway? Anyone want to Dopefest?
I graduated from BGSU in 1994. The winter before that it was -28 without windchill and the President refused to close the school. I had frostbite on my right ear and it still hurts in the winter, so BUNDLE UP. It’s flat as a board out there so the wind whistles through like an angry…something.
Don’t miss Cedar Point, as others have said (it’s about 1 1/2 hours away)
Go to Toledo for the ORIGINAL Tony Packos sweet hot pickles and peppers and Hungarian Hotdogs
In Bowling Green, on Wooster…run, do not walk to MYLES PIZZA, the finest pizza IN. THE. WORLD, and that’s comin’ from a gal in Chicago, where pizza is king.
I miss bowling green so much. The people are great, the townies are fun, Ann Arbor and Toledo are close enough for a ‘friday night escape’. I hope you have fuN!
I don’t know much about BG being a Buckeye myself, but welcome to Ohio. Yes, it does get cold! I’m from the snowbelt of the state, and I still really like snow and winter, so it won’t be too bad if you’re into it. There are four distinct seasons, and fall in Ohio is the best.
:dubious: :o :mad:
Look! Fall colors!
Thanks for the replies guys and girls! Sorry to disappear on y’all, but I posted this and promptly left town for a long weekend of tubing a river and camping and running into trees on my bike. God times!
ggurl, what are you getting your MA in? It would be pretty amazing if you are the other person that is getting one in philosophy! (They told me that there were two…)
I’m glad that there are a few Dopers in the area, and I hope to met you crazy kids soon.
I’ll be moving in early August and I’m not really looking forward to it. Like I said, I’ll be going in blind. I like the way that the department looks in print (and they let me in) so I’m going to a school that I’ve never seen. Good times!
–==Mike==–
I went the other way, Ohio to Texas, but I can think of a couple things not mentioned…
Distances: People who live in the DFW Metroplex routinely drive further to work on a daily basis than some people in other places are willing to drive once a year to see the relatives at Christmas. Texas is spread out, and Texans are used to making long haul drives for day-to-day activities. This actually works in your favor since things are arranged a little more compactly up north and you’ll spend a lot less time in the car. The hard part will come when you want to drive 45 minutes to do something fun and you’re met with quiet protests of “gee, that sure is far…”
Fall. I grew up in central/eastern Ohio and the rolling hills covered with the colors of turning leaves are some of my favorite memories. We used to drive around the back country roads just to look at them. Here in Texas, the trees shed their leaves so fast all you can do is complain about what a pain it is to clean them up… But up there it’s a sight to see and not to be missed. I’ve never been to BG and from what I’m reading it’s flat, but I’m guessing in a distance shorter than a trip to Waco you can catch an eyeful of autumn.
Of course, the Buckeyes here did mention snow. Uh… You do like snow, don’t you?
EZ
Dude, someone is yanking your chain BIG time, I was born and raised in NE Ohio and it NEVER got that cold. The worst I can remember is a wind-chill of -20, but that was highly unusual.
I know Yahoo! has weather maps where you can type in a zip code and get info on conditions in that area. I strongly recommend it.
Patty
I don’t mind snow. I have lots of family in New England and so I am prepared for the cold.
I grew up in Houston and the distances there are much further than in DFW. Here the malls are within 10 minutes. I drive 30 minutes to work each day due to traffic. I think it’ll be nice to be in a small town again.
Leaves have colors? :eek:
Marvel, are you kidding? Where you there for the winter of 1994? The whole of NW Ohio was shut down because it was too cold. -28 is permanently burned in my nightmares and with windchill? Forget about it.
BG graduate, 1984 (eek!).
The land is flat, very flat. Extremely flat. You can literally see for miles. At the time I went there, I spent my junior and senior years living on Offenhauer Towers, which are a pair of 10-story buildings. The tallest buildings literally for miles around. We got to see a tornado coming toward us from our perch on the 10th floor one year. You can get down 10 flights of stairs pretty quick if you have to.
The cold feels worse than it is because the flatness means it’s windy all the time. Old joke: Why is it so windy in Bowling Green? Because Toledo sucks and Miami (of Ohio) blows. I got two words for you: down jacket.
Your closest city of any size is Toledo. Tony Packo’s is a big attraction there. Good Hungarian food. You can also see a Mud Hens game. The closest big city is Detroit. Cleveland and Columbus are both a couple hours away. When you are driving to Toledo (which is about a half hour drive), you will see a mosque as you go by. At the time I went there it was surrounded by cornfields and the juxtaposition of these two things was quite weird.
Do you like hockey? BG has a good hockey team, and the hot dogs they serve at the arena are some of the best I’ve ever had. Don’t go to a football game in the late fall/winter because you will freeze your butt off.
Jarbaby mentions liking Myles Pizza, but I always thought it was too salty. Pisanello’s was my favorite, though some say their sauce is a little too sweet. Howard’s Club H is a local landmark – it’s a dump, but I mean that in the nicest way possible :). They’ve got good music there, Wednesday through Sunday:
The people at BG are for the most part very nice. I can vouch for the philosophy department – the philosophy courses I took there as an undergrad I enjoyed very much and the teaching was very competent. The psychology department is fantastic. Stay away from the English department. Gah. Just … gah. My best friend was a theater and education major and she enjoyed that experience very much as well.
Some of the architecture in BowlingGreen is neat, too. Behold the Wood County Courthouse:
http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/population/photos/ShowCH.asp?FIPS=39173
I remember thinking that the jail part of this building was distinctly creepy (they don’t keep prisoners there any more).
I am a huge hockey fan. I’m thinking of joining the Athletic band just so I can come to all the games. 
It will depend on my time obligations.
I don’t have anything with down in it. That’s for gangsters down here. How’s about a Gortex L.L. Bean jacket with a fleece liner?
Dunno, never had one of those, but you’ll know if it’s not enough. This is what I had:
http://cdn.llbean.com/products/womens/33522/images/M33522_Winter_Blue.jpg
I looked like a baby blue Michelin (wo)man.
And hockey tix are cheap, especially for students.
Man, I just checked the site and I can’t even find my jacket. I’ve had it for a few years now and I guess they don’t make it anymore. Too bad. It was about $350 when my Dad got it for me. Mine is electric blue. I’ve never been cold in it. I guess it’ll get a good testing fairly soon!